Surrogates and shadowy henchmen galore
Party hacks and swift-boatin’ talk-show whores
Look at all the lies it takes, the job of making kings
You can own the truth, you just gotta conceive it
Put it on the television screen, they’ll believe it
It’s a beautiful thing
It’s a beautiful thing

We wonder how our leaders could ever deceive us
While the profiteers count their cash and praise Jesus
The press sings another chorus of “Let Freedom Ring”
We send our boys away to come home in parts
Believe the lies with all our hearts
It’s a beautiful thing
It’s a beautiful thing

Dissension is a song only fools and traitors sing
Just look at all the benefits your global economy brings
Today we sing the gilded age’s song
The 20th century’s dead and gone
It’s a beautiful thing
It’s a beautiful thing

I live in a land of hope and betrayal
I get up each morning, try to tell the tale
And so until my dying day whatever fate may bring
A dark age looms, there’s evil at hand
Somehow I still believe in the goodness of man
It’s a beautiful thing
It’s a beautiful thing